European Folk Getup

                                            

                                       

very russian inspired designs

Russian folk meets 1968

                                               

                                               

Of course I had to put the wonderful Eugine Hutz of Gogol Bordello-self named "gypsy punks."

Joni Mitchell

Dont care for her? Just listen to "A Case of You," and you'll be smitten. I promise. Her incredible vocal range, and the perfect yet simple accompaniment of her playing on the mountain dulcimer is just great.

Her natural style and class really strikes me, as does, of course, her stunning voice, music, and genuinely exceptional artwork.

As I learn more (and my computer stops flaking out) I will post more on her.
TBC.

Oh, Hyampom

Let me start my very first post in my very first blog with a bit of an introduction. I decided to start a blog for a couple reasons. I thought it would be not only a great means of illustrating the things that inspire me, and interest me, but to figure out exactly just what those things are, and in turn who I am. Expect iconic people, nature, crafts, histories, facts, moods, theories and more in ensuing posts. Enjoy.

A couple weekends ago my mom and I traveled up dangerously windy roads and through endless construction to get to... Hyampom! Oh, Hyampom...Nestled in the Trinity mountains.

We stayed in the grandparents old house (they moved and its empty except for two chairs.) Our main goal? Bracken ferns and holly ferns. And of course to get back to our "roots." The daily itinerary? Wake up early (from comfy beds of sleeping bags on forty year old carpets) to the incredible view of grand (I mean huge) mountains covered in dense, rolling fog, and "nature sounds." Particularly a cockatoo (don’t get me started on the idiotic new neighbors or why the hell they thought it would be a good idea to bring a tropical bird to the mountains.) Idiots aside, a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, a muffin, and let the explorations commence.

And there is indeed so much to explore. The river, (little rock) the roads, the dense forest, and of course "Bracken grotto;" the sight of some of my fondest memories of our little trip.

Another of my favorite things about the trip is the time of year we went. I have never been there during autumn, and the place was practically new to me. Brilliant red berries tipped the ends of the wild honeysuckle vines, the earth smelled good and moist, moss grew on every tree and the acorns! Acorns with spiky caps, tiny acorns, big fat acorns...(being the "acorn aficionado" I am, the amount and variety of acorns was just great.) The previous week's rain had left not only the plants succulent and wet, but the air as well. Boy did we luck out, the weather changed abruptly from rainy storm to extremely comfortable. The crazy thing; it didn’t even get that cold at night-a rarity for Hyampom.
Oh, and to conclude each day, we read by flashlights; a pleasant end to the day that I found probably reminiscent of my moms old Hyampom days. I read my way well into Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck (One of my favorite authors.)

I couldn’t possibly tell you about all the wonderful sights and pleasant moments. In fact some of the moments were just indescribable. So here’s a couple of "noteworthy" things regarding the trip and Hyampom.
*note: My camera was broken and I was unable to take any pictures. I claim no ownership of any of the following ones. Let them aid you in developing the sense of Hyampom (although you cannot truly get that until you go there-sorry.)

Picture from Hyampom road overlooking the vinyard.

A salamander similar to the one I found in "bracken grotto"

We found a very pretty, very moist area filled with tons of  fallen trees, plenty of decomposing things and bracken ferns. I cant tell you how beautiful it was. The deer would agree, as we concluded from evidence of tracks and scat, it to be a frequented place by them. As I inspected a large mushroom, to the side of it I unexpectedly found a salamander. My first one! There’s just something about those cute little buggers. In fact, the finding of this little treasure inspired me in part to really begin my blog (or at least now I had a worthy topic). my mom picked it up and it slimed her. I can conclude that this will not seem “noteworthy” to all, from the reaction I got from my friend when I told her; (“ew.”) I wonder what kind it was. Any insight to salamanders in northern Califronia anyone?

                                    

Cougar

Here’s a noteworthy experience. I was alone, hiking in the “valley” behind the house, when I heard birds making a great deal of noise. When I turned the corner around some cottonwood tress I found a pretty good sized wild cat to be the cause of the ruckus. Being the idiot I am, I just stood there and we stared at each other for a while until it ran off. Little did I know I had just encountered a mountain lion. I had never seen one and was expecting some huge lion beast. After telling my mom about it (who had little interest) she nonchalantly asked me what color it was. After explaining it was tan and brown, her mouth abruptly dropped.
“You idiot! That was a mountain lion!”

“Really? I thought they were really huge. I just figured it was some really big wild cat or something”
“Have you ever seen a tan cat?”
“I guess not. Cooool.”
We figured it was a good thing that I didn’t know it was a mountain lion. Regardless, my mom was pretty peeved I had seen one, and she had never; not once in ten years, even when they killed a great number of her goats.
We figured that was a once-in-a-lifetime deal as well. Maybe not.
I was on the deck and she was about to take a shower when what did I see? A huge “momma” lion come out of some low willow tress, and then another, her baby, following en suit. Needless to say I ran like the wind to get my mom. She was delighted.

The mill - up the road about a half a mile from our "homestead"

Hyampom (very similar in appearance to the sight where we saw all the cougars)

I fear neither these pictures nor these words do Hyampom justice (as my mom would probably concur from her experiences- but dont worry, we are going again in a few weeks to look for more holly ferns, and pick up some things at the grandparent's abandoned homestead and I'll will make sure to fix my camera before then.) For me, Hyampom is not just the place, but the wonderful memories and ideas I have come to associate it with. Ok, its a really beautiful place too. It is a place of self reliance, nature, and everything else I love! Although the general feeling of Hyampom has evolved from the happy, hippy, self reliant people, of the 70's (as my mom remembers) to a bit more shall I say sleezy, (a result of the drug addicted losers) the mountains, the animals, and Hyampom will always live on. As we left town, a hippy man in an old hat and a long beard, with a donkey and a horse in tow on the side of the road reminded us of just that.